Description:
An early and rare Beatles autograph group, signed by all 'Fab Four' members and inscribed 'Lots of love from the Beatles' on the reverse of a fan club application form. The autographs are framed, glazed and mounted, scripted 'Elizabethan Rooms, Nottingham, March 7th 1963. Show compared by Keith Gordon. Supporting acts on the night:- Jerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, the Big Three.' Provenance: The vendor was the recipient of these signatures as he compared the show. The authenticity is without question. The following information has also been kindly submitted by him. "Early in 1963, an amateur dance and concert promoter in Nottingham, contacted Brian Epstein about the possibility of booking the Beatles who, although they had recently enjoyed a small hit with 'Love Me Do', were still relatively unknown outside the Liverpool area. Epstein agreed, on condition that he could also bring three other groups under his management: 'The Big Three', who already had a single released, nd 2 other acts, 'Gerry and the Pacemakers' and 'Bill J Kramer and the Dakotas', neither of which had yet released a record. The fee was a straight 50% of all ticket sales for the event. The groups appeared at The Elizabethan Rooms, (a function room available for hire above the Co-operative Society Department Store on Parliament Street, Nottingham) on March 7th 1963, and each act played two sets. By the time of appearance The Beatles were Number One, with 'Please, Please Me', but in spite of this, Beatlemania was not evident in Nottingham, and the event was far from a sell-out. A friend of the promoter introduced the acts and he obtained this set of autographs from the group in their dressing rooms. The following year, when the Beatles headlined at The Odeon Cinema, Nottingham, demand for tickets was so great that a postal ballot had to be held for those lucky enough to be able to attend, and the show, compéred by Jimmy Tarbuck, was virtually inaudible because of screaming, hysterical fans."